Unmerited Grace

Wednesday evening one of our church members shared a message that was on his heart for over a year. It took him that long to figure out exactly what and how he wanted to share it. This young man came to our church initially brought by a relative. He wasn’t keen about church stuff, but despite his reluctance, God caught hold of his heart and because of the conviction of the Lord, he accepted Jesus as Savior and became saved. I’ve watched this young man grow in faith and enjoyed seeing God smooth his rough edges to now I believe he may one day enter the ministry.

There was a lot of hard work on his part. He didn’t graduate high school, but since then found teachers who were willing to tutor him. With their help he earned his GED. From that point on, he blossomed. His manner of speech and knowledge grew exponentially. It was a blessing to see the changes.

His message was from the book of Luke, chapter 18 where the Pharisee prayed in the temple, bragging about how wonderful he was. The Pharisee seemed to tell God that God was blessed to have him as a follower. After all, he was extremely religious following the tenets of fasting and tithing. He was “thankful” that he was not like other sinful men, almost as to say he was not being constrained by sins of others. He felt that he was better than the lowly publican. While the publican recognized himself as a sinner and asked God for mercy, expecting nothing, but praying that God might show him grace.

Now comes the coincidence, I was driving home after the service and a preacher on the radio was explaining the same passage, adding more insight. The minister said that fasting for the Jew was required once per year. Often it was accompanied by the whitening his face and praying. The preacher felt the Pharisee’s fasting would have been on market days, where others knew that he was fasting. Matthew shares about fasting publicly and the reward received is public recognition only.

Fasting is sometimes necessary for the Christian, causing an intense time of prayer and seeking God’s will, but wearing a placard saying “I’m fasting” is wrong.

Tithing is another requirement from God, returning one tenth of finances He has given to us. Even that, the Pharisees made it a badge of righteousness, carrying it out the extreme, where they would shortchange their parents by counting the seeds that were to feed and support the parents in their old age. The Pharisee’s pride of strictly following the tenets replaced the reason behind his worship.